As far as I know there are only a couple of alternative treatments. One is in SEVERE cases where an adrenalectomy (completely removing the adrenal glands to mimic that of an Addisonian patient) is performed and the patient is treated with steroids but does not have as severe side effects and grows to be near ideal height. The other treatment is offered by the NIH (National Institutes of Health). It is an experimental treatment which is only accepting participants under the age of 12 or so. It is not available anywhere else because one of the drugs they are using (flutamide) is only FDA approved for grown male patients with prostate problems. If she is suffering side effects, depending on how old she is and if she's done growing, there may be alternative hydrocortisone's she could take that may help her like prednisone or dexamethosone which act longer than normal hydrocortisone. Encourage her to speak with her endocrinologist about reassessing her traetment if the side effects are that severe. Unfortunately in most cases, at least some side effects are unavoidable. I'm sure everyone here aggrees that you are a wonderful friend in trying to understand and help you best friend with her disease. I hope when my son is older he will have a friend as caring as you.